Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz speaks following his team's loss to USC

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

On Saturday, the USC football team defeated Iowa 26-21 at the Coliseum. With the victory, the Trojans improved to 8-2 and 6-1 in Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes, meanwhile, fell to 6-4 overall and 4-3 in conference.

Following the game, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz discussed his team’s loss. Here are some of the highlights of what he had to say:

On his team’s performance

“Obviously a tough loss for our football team,” Ferentz said. “Our guys were focused, prepared coming in here, and certainly we played complete team football in that first half. Went about as well as we could’ve hoped. We got off to a really good start there. Certainly in the second half just there was a flip on that. It wasn’t a matter of anybody’s effort. USC just did a good job coming back and maximizing their opportunities in that second half. The halves both look very different. I was just really proud of their effort, and obviously we’re all really disappointed. So it’s a tough loss.”

On USC’s performance

“Certainly want to give credit to our opponent,” Ferentz said. “They did the things they had to do to take control of the game in the second half, but even right down to the wire, we had a chance there on the last play to catch the ball and advance it down in there and just keep playing it out.”

On USC’s roster

“They have a lot of good players everywhere, in every position,” Ferentz said. “So that’s probably the reason they’re ranked, and probably the reason they’ve had one [Big Ten] loss. They’re a good football team. They look good, they play well. I mentioned number six [WR Makai Lemon], number eight [WR Ja’Kobi Lane], you know, still feel very like he’s an outstanding player too for them. He did a great job. It takes a lot of parties involved. So they’re a good team, but things just didn’t quite go our way there and had a chance at the end all that being said, and couldn’t quite get it done.”

On his team’s injuries

“Anytime you lose anybody that’s a starter it’s not going to help the cause, that’s for sure, and it’s just one of those things,” Ferentz said. “So I thought the guys stepped in, did a really good job leading us in there more than anybody. And it seemed like we just kept playing. So that’s positive. The other guys jumped in there too, and were executing from the start. So it’s just part of football.”

On maintaining focus after several close losses

“It’s hard,” Ferentz said. “Losing is hard, first of all, for everybody involved, but nobody harder than the players. It’s a short window for them. They’re the ones investing. They’re the ones who are playing when they’re sore and doing all the hard stuff you have to do. But it’s also part of the game. And like I said last week, somehow you got to get off the ground, off the map, and go back at it. Our guys did a good job of that this past week. Hopefully for our members coming in this game, this is a really explosive football team. They’re a ranked team for a reason. They’re a good football team. One loss in the Big Ten right now. I thought the guys did a great job getting ready to compete. Anytime you lose it it’s going to be a challenge. We got another challenge, looks like two injuries to deal with as well. But we’ll figure that out in the next 48 hours and hopefully Monday we’ll be ready to roll.”

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz discusses Hawkeyes’ loss to USC football

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos